The Moon's Curse

Chapter 7 - Into the Woods

SWINDON, MARCH 12th, 1872

It is late in the evening. I am just about to head to bed, but I first carry the paraffin lamp to the window and pull the heavy curtains apart. When I dreamt of that wolf a couple of nights ago, I made myself a vow that I would never forget to latch the shutters again. Now that I know there is a beast lurking in our woods, I need to be especially cautious. One of the maids has already been in here, but I don’t want to leave anything to coincidence.

I open the window, throwing some light onto the latch with the help of my lamp. I heave out a sigh of relief. Good. There won’t be any trouble with the shutters tonight. As I move the lamp away, I suddenly notice something through the slots. It appears to be a small light, dancing somewhere in the distance.

I unlatch the shutters and place my lamp on the cupboard before pushing them open. I squint my eyes in the darkness, trying to make something out. The air is chilly, and I find myself rubbing my arms as I watch my surroundings. I soon spot the light again. It seems to me that there is someone walking outside with a lamp just like mine.

It takes me a few moments for my eyes to adjust properly to the darkness, but when they do, I gasp in panic. There is someone walking outside. I already mean to latch the shutters again and head straight to bed, when I realize that the way they are walking … Alright, it is definitely a human. But if they are human … What are they doing heading towards the woods?

I freeze. What if they are sleepwalking? That means they don’t even know they are heading to the woods! I need to do something. I can’t have someone head in there, not with the beast lurking around!

I leave the window open, trying to find some warm clothes in the faint light of the lamp. I have no idea what I pull over my head, I only know that I am warm enough with the window being open.

Then, I quickly tie a few fresh sheets together and fixate them around the leg of my bed. A few moments later I am already climbing out of the window, holding my lamp between my teeth, so I can hold onto the sheets with both my hands. It is a good thing it isn’t windy tonight, or else the shutters would be making a lot of noise. And attracting too much attention.

It isn’t a long way to the ground since my room is right above the cellar. I could easily jump from the shelf, but if I did, I would have no other choice but to sneak into the house through the front door.

I grab the lamp from my mouth, wrapping the clothes tightly around me as I rush towards the forest, the light nowhere in sight. I blindly head into the direction, where I remember seeing it for the last time. My feet move across the ground silently, but swiftly, as if I was a deer and not a human girl. I have nothing but one goal in mind. To find the person who I saw heading in there and bring them out safely.

But as I step foot into the forest, a feeling of uneasiness washes over me. A tense silence is hanging in the air. One could even call it eerie. I gulp nervously, raising my lamp higher towards my head in hopes that my eyes would be able to make out something more in this darkness. However, the more I squint them, the more I begin to realize what an impossible task I have given myself.

After walking around for a while, I notice that I have gotten dangerously far from the first line of trees. I don’t know how much time has already passed, but the person I saw is nowhere around. Oh, who am I trying to blind? Even if they were, it would be impossible to see them. The trees all look the same. In fact, everything around me seems like one big shadow and I am trapped inside it.

I am not scared of the darkness. At least not when I am alone in my room at night. But now … I think I might soon realize that I have more than enough company in here. I chase the unpleasant thoughts away, trying to focus on finding the person that must be in here.

I realize I never actually saw them enter the woods. I was too busy getting some warm clothes to keep my eye on them. The same clothes that don’t help me now at all because the air in here is even colder than out in the open. What have I gotten myself into? Why couldn’t I just wake someone up and tell them what is happening? The thought that appears in my head next, saddens me. I knew they wouldn’t believe me. That is why I came out here by myself.

I breathe in sharply, deciding that I have had enough of this nonsense. If someone were indeed in here, I would surely see their lamp in the distance by now. I need to get back to the safety of my room before I catch a cold. Or worse, get myself killed.

I turn around and try to walk into the opposite direction of where I came from. For a while, it seems like it is working, until I suddenly trip over something, falling to the ground. I clench my teeth together, but in the next moment I already stiffen. It seems as if in that moment my had is finally sober again. There is a beast lurking around these woods. And I have just made a lot of noise.

I direct the lamp towards the thing that I tripped over, thinking that it must have been some large roots of a tree. But the sight in front of me makes me cover my mouth in horror. Nothing in this world could ever prepare me to see a corpse. It doesn’t matter if that corpse was a stag. It was still soaked in blood, its eyes staring emptily into nothingness.

I place my trembling hand to the ground to pick myself up, trying to prevent myself from screaming. The leaves beneath me are rustling loudly, making me even more nervous. I can’t afford to be this loud.

In that moment, one detail catches up with me and despite being shaken to my core, I direct the light towards the animal again. The stag still has meat on its bones and Mr. Walker said that the beast only leaves bones behind. As realization sinks in, my knees almost give out. The beast must be nearby. And in that case, it doesn’t matter how quiet I am trying to be. If I want to save myself, I need to run. Now.

As I pick myself up, I suddenly hear a something I know I am never going to forget. It sounds like heavy panting, but it is so incredibly loud and accompanied by a few low grunts. I widen my eyes, not thinking about the person who might be in danger any longer.

I turn around and bolt forwards, not caring about how loud my feet are as they move across the crunching leaves, or how loudly the lamp is clinking as it moves back and forth. All I know is that if I don’t run now, I am dead. If I stop, I am dead. If I look back, I am dead!

I almost cry out in relief as I notice my surroundings changing. I am getting out to the open! Finally, I am out of the woods! My lungs are burning, and my legs are on the verge of giving out, but I don’t let them. My survival instinct is wide awake, making my whole body cooperate for the sake of getting out of this alive.

I don’t know what suddenly takes over me, but I look back, finally seeing the enormous beast, that everyone has been talking about so much. It is running by the edge of the forest, just a little behind me. I don’t know why it doesn’t come out, and I never even want to find out, if it means I survive this.

I try not to think of what I saw, as I run towards the house, already spotting my white sheets dangling from my window. My priority is getting to safety. I can’t think about what I just saw. I can’t.

I dare to look back one last time as I reach the window and put the lamp between my teeth again, but the beast is far behind, seeming like it is slowing down. I decide not to give it a chance to pounce at me, so I jump on the sheets, climbing up the short piece of wall as quickly as I can.

The moment I jump through the window, I pull the sheets inside and close the shutters, latching them safely together. As I close the window as well and pull the curtains together, the whole event suddenly seems surreal. But I know what I saw. And there is no unseeing it now.

“I am telling you, it was a wolf!” I try to convince my aunt next morning at breakfast. She is watching me with disbelief written all over her face, while I am on the verge of pulling hair out of my scalp. I almost died, I barely slept all night and now she doesn’t believe me, that the beast, lurking inside our woods, is a wolf!

“Don’t be ridiculous, wolfs are the size of dogs, perhaps slightly bigger. But they are certainly not the size of bears,” she dismisses me, turning her gaze back towards her plate. I grind my teeth together angrily, then notice the way Mrs. Spinster is looking at me. Right. Unladylike behaviour includes getting angry, so a girl must never show it.

“With all due respect, I know what I saw,” I say after I forcefully calm myself down. My aunt raises her gaze again, staring at me for a few long moments before responding.

“You saw it from your window in complete darkness. Forget about this beast. Our workers will take care of it,” she brushes me off again, this time speaking sharply, but with determination. I press my lips together, suddenly growing furious that she doesn’t believe me. I may not be of age yet, but I am also not a child anymore! And I am surely not blind either!

However, I clench my jaw and take a deep breath, knowing that I need to let this go. I didn’t tell her the truth either. I said I saw the wolf from my window, as I was checking whether my shutters were latched properly or not. I kept my little visit to the woods a secret. If I told my aunt I went there in the evening, she would have me skinned alive. Well, she wouldn’t go that far, but she would surely lock me into my room for a week. And put bars on my window.

I also kept the person I saw to myself. If they don’t find anyone but that stag in the woods, it means that they might not have even gone in there. And that my action was incredibly foolish. But if they do find someone … Well, I will worry about dealing with my guilt later. First, I need to check if there is someone else that might believe me about the wolf. Surely someone will … or won’t they?

As I get to the stables after successfully slipping out of the house, I feel a bit nervous. I have barely ever spoken to our new caretaker, and now I am about to tell him that the beast in our woods is a wolf. What is he going to say to that?

“Mr. Harrison? Are you in here?” I call out as I enter the stables, the familiar fusty, but warm air hitting my face. Everything is silent apart from slight crunching that I hear from the horses, who are just finishing their breakfast. “Mr. Harrison?” I repeat again, this time a bit more loudly.

“In here!” the man finally replies, making me follow the sound of his voice. He is just cleaning out one of the stalls, having my aunt’s mare tied outside. I pet her muzzle, stopping right behind our new caretaker. As he turns around, he seems surprised, but he quickly bows his head in respect. “Milady, I didn’t expect to see you here. Would you like me to prepare your horse for a ride?” he wishes to know, but I shake my head.

“No, but thank you for the offer … Listen, I know you are close with our head of field workers. There has been some talk about a beast in our woods, you might be familiar with it …” I trail off, waiting for a response. The man nods solemnly, making me let out a short breath. “You are, good. I have seen the beast from my window last night and since he is in charge of getting rid of it, I would like you to deliver him my message. The beast is a wolf,” I finally reveal.

The man watches me with a serious gaze for a few long moments and I return his gaze proudly. Just as he opens his mouth, I am already prepared to describe it, but the sound that comes out of him, makes me freeze. He is laughing.